Columbia Five Is on Way Up

College basketball coaches usually don't get enthusiastic over an 8‐13 won‐lost record. But Tom Penders of Columbia is an exception.

Penders, speaking at the basketball writers’ weekly luncheon yesterday at Mamma Leone's, commented on the present record: “That represents the most victories by a Columbia team since the 1970‐71 season. And the 6‐4 mark in the Ivy League also is the best since then.”

Those are reasons enough for Penders, a low‐keyed individual, to speak in glowing terms.

The Lions struggled to a 4‐22 mark a year ago in Penders's first campaign, and finished seventh in the league. At the moment the Lions occupy third place and, with a little luck, will finish there.

The luck will have to come in the final two weeks of the season. This weekend Columbia faces Dartmouth at Hanover, N. H., and Harvard in Cambridge, Mass. Then they end the campaign next weekend at home against Penn's defending champions and Princeton, the league leader.

The sophomores Penders singled out as key men next season are Elmer Love, Gene Bentz, Jeff Combs, Mike Wilhite and Ed Shockley. Penders added, “And there will be four of five key men coming up to the varsity.”

No wonder Penders is enthusiastic.

The present freshmen have a 12‐2 record. The most likely graduates to be promoted to the varsity are Ricky Free, Alton Byrd, Juan Mitchell, Shane Cotner and Kevin Donahue. Free, from Brooklyn's Boys High, is the leading scorer with a 20.1‐point average.

The two defeats were to the Penn freshmen and the St. John's junior varsity, but the young Lions will get another crack at both before the season ends.

Another coach who spoke in optimistic terms was Lou Rossini of St. Francis College in Brooklyn. The former Columbia and New York University coach also has done a remarkable job this season.

The Terriers won seven of 26 games a year ago. At the moment Rossini has guided them to a 12‐12 mark. “The students seem to be happy, the administration is happy and the recruiting is going very well,” Rossini said.

“The high point of the season was the victory over St. Bonaventure, the low point was the loss to Detroit last Saturday.”

The Terriers face Long Island University tonight on the Blackbirds’ court, then close the season Saturday against Manhattan. “We'd like to finish 14‐12,” Rossini said. It is a reasonable hope but not a probability.

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A version of this archives appears in print on February 25, 1976, on Page 67 of the New York edition with the headline: Columbia Five Is on Way Up. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe